Trade Unions Call on Japan to Eliminate Nuclear Energy Use

A man looks at a package of spinach from Chiba Prefecture on sale at a market Sunday, March 20, 2011, in Tokyo. Japan announced the first signs that contaminationfrom its tsunami-crippled nuclear complex have seeped into the food chain, saying that radiation levels in spinach harvested in Ibaraki Prefecture and milk from farms in Fukushima Prefecture near the facility exceeded government safety limits.

The National Confederation of Trade Unions, Japan’s national labor coalition, has released a draft proposal calling for the Japanese government to exchange nuclear energy for natural and renewable resources.

Japan’s disaster at the Fukushima nuclear power plant was the second worst nuclear catastrophe in history, following Chernobyl in 1986, and is the main reason behind the labor union’s proposal.

The contamination of food, as well as other health hazards continue in the region near Fukushima. The prolonged nature of the nuclear issue has been jumped upon by anti-nuclear power activists and commentators as a clear reason why Japan must halt its heavy reliance on nuclear energy, and find alternative energy solutions.

During a press conference held in May, Japan’s Prime Minister Naoto Kan said, “Under the current energy policy, by the year 2030, 50 percent of Japan’s electricity will come from nuclear power generation and 20 percent from renewable energy resources. However, we now have to go back to the drawing board and conduct a fundamental review of the nation’s basic energy policy.”

On July 2, the labor coalition was responsible for more than 20,000 people gathering in Tokyo’s downtown Meiji Park to protest against the continued use of nuclear power.

The Great Earthquake, as the March 11 disaster is now known in Japan, has shed light on the growing dangers nuclear power poses, the labor coalition has said.

The draft proposal suggests solutions that include solar, wind, biomass, geothermal, and other natural, domestic sources for energy. The elimination of nuclear power development would not only prevent nuclear disasters like Fukushima, but will save trillions of dollars and improve environmental factors globally, the coalition promotes.